Marathon County sheriff's deputy was a leader following jail attack

Dec. 14, 2013

Billeb, third from right, meets with the members of the Marathon County Jail citizens review panel in April. Billeb on Thursday was named 2013 Daily Herald Media Person of the Year for his work in addressing longstanding problems with the jail. / Daily Herald Media file photo

Chad Billeb

About Chad Billeb

Age: 39 Family: Married, two daughters Home: Mosinee From: Born in Milwaukee; grew up in Medford Career: Started with Marathon County Sheriff’s Department in 1999 as a sheriff’s deputy. Promoted to lieutenant in 2008, to chief deputy in June.

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When Lt. Chad Billeb walked into the room to meet with Marathon County corrections officers in early April, the reception was ice cold. Some longtime corrections staffers sat with their arms crossed, ready to dismiss what Billeb was bringing as more talk without any action to back it up.

They had reason to be skeptical. Billeb was coming in to meet with them in the wake of a March 27 attack by an inmate that left one of their own, Julie Christensen, hospitalized with serious injuries.

But problems at the jail had festered for years. Officers had been made to wait up to five years before they were given basic, legally required training. They were carrying expired, even empty pepper spray canisters, compromising their ability to defend themselves. And their employee surveys, which would later be released to the public, revealed morale was at a point of crisis even before the attack, with employees giving by far the lowest satisfaction scores of any group of county employees.

“I opened up the conversation by saying, ‘Tell me what’s going on,’” Billeb said in an interview.

And then he listened. Through the course of six sessions with the officers, Billeb heard enough to have an understanding of their point of view — and a list of their requests, some of which included such minor issues that it stunned Billeb that they had been allowed to languish for as long as they had.

An example: “Ear buds, so they could hear their radios” and effectively communicate with other officers in the jail, Billeb said. And on small, inexpensive items like these, Billeb took immediate action.

“These little things helped build credibility,” he said.

Ultimately, of course, it would take much more than ear buds to fix the jail. But Billeb pointed to that example for a reason: When even the most basic requests weren’t fulfilled, it was no wonder the employees greeted him with such skepticism.

Billeb coordinated the efforts of the independent jail review panel appointed by the county to review the problems and security risks that came to light in the wake of the attack. (Daily Herald Media General Manager Michael Beck served on the panel.) In that role, Billeb would connect the concerns of officers with the priorities of policymakers; the questions and concerns of the public with the reality inside the jail; he would bring together the perspectives of everyone at every level of the justice system, from current and former inmates to Sheriff’s Department top administrators.

And he would do it all in a straightforward, honest and direct fashion.

The citizen review panel released its recommendations in July, detailing years of neglect of the jail by former Marathon County Sheriff Randy Hoenisch, who announced his retirement in February after Daily Herald Media reports revealed he had been chronically absent from his job, and by former jail administrator Bob Dickman, who resigned in April in the wake of the attack.

The absence of those two leaders pointed to a bigger cultural problem throughout the department: a dearth of leadership. But in a tumultuous year, Billeb was part of the solution. He was promoted from lieutenant to chief deputy in June when the former chief deputy, Scott Parks, took on the post as sheriff.

The Marathon County Jail installed new communications systems. Corrections officers were provided with Tasers and ear buds. With new hires, new shift schedules and changes to courtroom security procedures, the jail began to address its chronic short-staff problem. A new jail administrator, Sandra La Du-Ives, began her job last week.

“I’m not saying everybody (working) in the jail is happy,” Billeb said. “But they see change. They see improvements.”

Billeb’s leadership has been a big part of what allowed those changes to happen — and, crucially, to allow the county to begin to rebuild the trust of its employees and the confidence of the public.

On Thursday, the Editorial Board named Billeb 2013 Daily Herald Media Person of the Year. He helped bring the department through this storm.

Robert Mentzer can be reached at 715-845-0604. Find him on Twitter as @robertmentzer.